Today’s News & Buzz

“Here are three operas that won’t get staged at the famed Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York City anytime soon…. These operas aren’t coming to the stage of the Met, or any other prestigious venue, because, so far as I know, they haven’t been composed.” Guys, this would be f.... More »

It is a matter of record that I have a particular enthusiasm for Beethoven's Fidelio. I love the orchestration, and how it changes color to reflect the different worlds of the domestic interior subtly infected by the violence and fear of the prison; of the prison garden that is both foretaste a.... More »

The opening of La Scala's season on 7 December each year is the most anticipated and often contested event in the international opera calendar.Daniel Barenboim opens the 2014-2015 Opera and Ballet Season with Fidelio directed by Deborah Warner. It marks the end of his nine years at the Teatro alla .... More »

Richard and Pauline StraussPianist Nigel Foster's London Song Festival starts its autumn run on 21 October 2014 when he is joined by soprano Ailish Tynan and baritone Simon Wallfisch for Music of a Foreign Land. The festival this year takes place at Rosslyn Hill Chapel, Rosslyn Hill, Hampstead, Lond.... More »

Welcome to 2014—and what a crazy weekend for contemporary American opera in NYC January 11-12 is turning out to be. Not only will the second PROTOTYPE Festival be in full swing (about which more to come), but Morningside Opera will present Here Be Sirens, a new chamber opera by composer-vocalist Kate Soper, at Dixon Place on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon…

Paul Pelkonen must have been the only NY critic to eschew the bubbles on New Year’s night. He went to the Met and saw Fledermaus in Jeremy Sams’s new production. Here’s what he thought. Eisenstein (Christopher Maltman) woos Rosalinde (Susanna Philips) in Act II of Die Fledermaus.) Photo by Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera.

[José Silvestre White (1835-1918), Afro-Cuban violinist and composer. Shown here after he received the 1st prize for violin at the Conservatoire de Paris in 1856. Bibliothèque Nationale de France]José Silvestre White is featured at AfriClassical.com, with a Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www…

It’s difficult to stand anywhere near composer and vocalist Lisa Bielawa and not feel energized by proximity. An extrovert to the core, she acknowledges that her highly social nature has taken her in some specific directions both as a composer and as a musical citizen.

Buddha: V&A MuseumThe following is taken from a presentation given by Wagner scholar Peter Bassett during the Melbourne Ring in 2013 – which can be heard by clicking here. Printed here with kind permission of the author.Peter, is author, among much else, of lasts years study of Wagner and Verdi: 1813: Wagner and Verdi…

A. Vivaldi, Orlando furioso (1714), R. Novaro, R. Basso, Modo Antiquo, F. M. Sardelli
(released on November 13, 2012)
Naïve OP30540 | 160’40"Orlando furioso is Vivaldi’s most famous opera, having been known in modern revival since the 1970s, and it was already recorded for Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition in 2005, by Jean-Christophe Spinosi and Ensemble Matheus…

Grossenbacher/Ensemble Modern/ORF SO Wien/Deutsches SO Berlin/ Deutsche RPO Saarbrucken/Hefti(Col Legno)This collection of orchestral pieces conducted by David Philip Hefti himself overlaps with a Neos disc of the 38-year-old Swiss composer’s music that appeared last year. The sibling pieces Klangbogen from 2009, and the cello concerto Gegenklang, composed immediately afterwards and seemingly continuing the musical argument of its predecessor, are common to both; the remaining pieces here follow the timeline of Hefti’s orchestral work right up to last year…

Bach: Christmas Oratorio: Parts I, III, V, VIPlatinum Consort, Orchestra of the Age of EnlightenmentScott Inglis-Kidger, condKings Place, London 19 December 2013In a season dominated by Messiahs, spare a thought for the Christmas Oratorio. Were it not for Handel’s perennial singalong, Bach’s masterpiece would have far higher visibility on our Christmas programmes – and it certainly does on the continent…

Review – Arias For Senesino – Sonia Prina & Ensemble Claudiana
Sonia Prina’s recital at Wigmore Hall was one of vocal verve, staggering technique and interpretive eloquence.
Rarely – if ever – have I heard these arias written by Handel for Senesino performed with such gusto, Ms Prina and Ensemble Claudiana imparting a deep love of Handel’s music from start to finish…

Silvester fireworks in MainzI have an operatically eventful January ahead of me here in Germany: Enescu in Frankfurt, Verdi in München, hopefully a Wozzeck double-bill in Darmstadt, and if I can manage it, Elektra in Dresden. I am, believe it or not, planning to get some work done as well. But while all this excitement is keeping me busy over here, my beloved New York will also be having a very exciting month of opera…

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That’s all for this post. I’ll be back again tomorrow (with my morning coffee) to go through more fantastic world blogs and compile another hot-off-the-press news and buzz round-up. Look out for it… I hope you’ll tune in to the news.

You can access my reading lists of general buzz from the classical music and opera scene from the blogs on these websites: